First Christmas
by DeeMarie426
Summary: It's been four months since Jon and Mattie made their relationship official. Christmas is upon them and Jon's anxious. It's their first Christmas together; not only as a couple, but as a family, and he wants it to be perfect. Question is, how do you make your family's first Christmas perfect?
1. Chapter One

**Short Story**

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**First Christmas**

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**Author's Note: Alright guys, her's a little short story featuring Jon, Mattie and little Sadie. I figured if I'm gonna make you wait for the sequel I'd give you a little Christmas short story to hold you over. This will only be a bout four chapters long and is only gonna be a fluffy short. That means no drama! Haha. Hopefully you all enjoy it as much as you enjoyed USFHP. :)**

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Jon held the bracelet in his hand looking at it; a sales clerk stood before him with a whole display rack of other beautiful, expensive bracelets he could choose from. It was December twenty-first, four days until Christmas, and he had yet to find the perfect gift for Mattie. Jon eyed the cool silver in his hand as he allowed it to slide across his hand and between his fingers until he reached the lettered charm attached to the small seven inch chain. He contemplated whether this was the perfect gift or not. He tried to imagine Mattie wearing it around her thin wrist. The image in his head gave him his decision. It had to be this bracelet.

"If you're buying a gift for your girlfriend or wife, that piece is a good choice. Or we also have this one," the clerk said, holding up another similar bracelet that had a simple, plain blue heart on it. Jon shrugged.

"What's the price difference between the two?" The clerk looked at each bracelet's sales tag.

"There's not much of a difference, actually." Nodding his head in Jon's direction he continued. "That one is one-hundred-seventy-five and this one…" he played with the silver beaded chain in his hand "This one is one-hundred-fifty." Jon nodded.

"I think I'll just stick with this one. Fifteen dollars just isn't enough to sway my decision. Besides, if I know my girlfriend as well as I think I do, she'll enjoy this one more than that one." The clerk nodded. "Okay then. Are you ready to check out?" Jon nodded and waited for the clerk to ring him up.

He wasn't sure exactly how he had ended up inside a jewelry store, but once he was inside he decided he'd get Mattie's Christmas gift while he was in here. Now that he found her something from him he needed to find her something small to get from Sadie. He skimmed the jewelry store a bit more before finally walking out.

Hallmark was his next stop. This was usually a store he wouldn't be caught dead at, but he knew they had some nice things. Walking around he browsed the shelves looking for something small and semi-inexpensive he could buy for Sadie to give to Mattie. They had some things she would like, but nothing he could see a two-year-old giving to their mother.

Jon just wanted this Christmas to be perfect for them. It wasn't just their first Christmas as a couple, but as a family! He usually dreaded this time of year because he didn't have any family to celebrate with, but that had all changed five-in-a-half months ago when he found out about Sadie. Now he couldn't wait for Christmas; he couldn't wait to wake up with Sadie on Christmas morning and watch the joy on her face as she opened her presents.

Jon walked out of Hallmark empty handed. There was just nothing there that could be passed off by a two-year-old as a gift, and he still had no idea what to get. He needed to talk to someone with experience with kids and giving presents. There was only one person he could think of that fit that description. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he quickly made the call to Joe.

The phone rang three times before a little voice finally said "hello". Jon couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He told Joe teaching Gia how to use his phone was a bad idea.

"Hi, Gia, it's Jon, where's your daddy," he questioned the five-year-old little girl.

"Hi, Jon, hold on, I'll get him."

Jon heard Gia talking to her father and chuckled when he heard Joe question which Jon it was. He forgot one of Joe's cousins had the same name as him. "Not cousin Jon, daddy." There was a bit of ruffling and giggling from Gia before Joe finally came on the line.

"Hey Jon, what's up?" Jon quickly switched the phone to his other ear.

"Hey, I need your help. I've been searching for a present to get for Mattie from Sadie and I can't find anything. I've looked in several stores over the last several weeks. I just came out of Hallmark that's how desperate I am." Joe laughed.

"Don't buy anything. Just let Sadie make her something. Like a Christmas tree ornament or a magnet for the refrigerator, something along those lines. Mom's love those kind of things from their kids. I've done it with Gia every year since she was born. Even when she was a baby I did something. Jessie always loves it."

While Joe was talking about different things he could do with Sadie a light bulb went off in Jon's head. "I think I know what I'm gonna do with Sadie. Thanks for the ideas, dude." Joe laughed. "No problem. Glad I could help. Have fun making whatever you have in mind." Jon laughed. "I definitely plan to. I love bonding time with Sadie. It's always fun." Joe agreed before they hung up and Jon headed for the nearest arts and crafts store in the area.


	2. Chapter Two

**Author's Note: Updates for both stories in one day. Not bad. This chapter has A LOT of "fluff" to it. Enjoy.**

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**Chapter Two**

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Jon walked around the Michaels Arts and Crafts store looking for supplies. Mattie had a ton of jewelry and no room left in her current jewelry box. He kept telling her to get rid of the pieces she never uses, but she'd tell him she used all of it, just at different times. When Joe mentioned making something with Sadie to give Mattie for Christmas, a jewelry box was the only idea that popped into his head. He just hoped it was the correct idea.

Turning down an aisle where the store housed plain, unpainted, wooden boxes Jon eyed the selection. Reaching up he pulled down one that was shaped like a heart and was double stacked and too latches, meaning it had two different compartments and enough room for quite a bit of jewelry. Placing the box into his basket he moved on to the crafting decorations.

Jon checked out of the store with stickers, markers, glue and little tiny multicolored gems to glue to the box. He didn't wanna get anything too extravagant. After all he was doing this project with a two-year-old toddler; he wanted to keep the mess to a minimum.

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Mattie was wrapping some of Sadie's presents in the living room while the toddler was taking her nap. Jon walked in as she was just starting to clean up the wrapping paper mess, but instead of greeting her like he usually would he went right to their bedroom. She found that odd, but let it slide when he came back into the living room less than a minute later and gave her a kiss to greet her. "Hi, babe, what are you up to?" Mattie grabbed a few of the newly wrapped presents and placed them against Jon's chest, waiting for him to take them.

"I was wrapping some more of Sadie's presents while she's napping, but now I have to go get ready for work," Mattie informed him before placing another kiss on his lips and exiting the living room.

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Once Sadie had woken up, and Mattie had left for her rare, once-a-month, over-night shift, Jon pulled the box and crafting supplies back out of their hiding spot and laid them on the kitchen table. "Sadie, do you wanna make mommy a present for Christmas," Jon asked the toddler. Her eyes lit up when she saw the crafting material laid out on the table. "Up," she exclaimed, raising her tiny arms above her head waiting for her father to lift her up to her booster seat at the table. Jon chuckled as he lifted his daughter into her seat.

Jon rolled Sadie's sleeves up and started helping her use the markers and glue to secure the jewels to the box and decorate it. He made sure every inch of the box was covered in color from the markers, and the jewels were spread far enough apart for the stickers to fit. After Jon helped Sadie press the last sticker into place they admired their work on the finished product. "Do you think mommy will like it," Jon asked her.

"'Es." Jon eyed the object from every angle.

"Are you sure?" He was nervous. He wanted Mattie to love it, but he wasn't sure she would. But perhaps he was overanalyzing it way too much.

"'Es, daddy. Pwetty box," Sadie told him. He laughed and kissed her temple. Leave it to the toddler to point out its colorfulness.

"You're right, it is pretty. Alright, you've convinced me. Now, we have to let it finish drying, then we'll wrap it for mommy to open on Christmas morning," Jon told her, holding his arms out to lift her out of her booster seat. "Let's go watch some TV and play while we wait for it to dry."

Sadie started playing with her toys while Jon put the Nick Junior channel on. "Dada, pway," Sadie exclaimed, holding a big Lego block out toward him. Jon chuckled and shook his head as he crawled on the floor.

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Jon and Sadie played with a bunch of her toys for an hour straight. They made quite the mess in a short period of time. Looking around Jon cringed. "Baby girl, we have to clean up this mess and wrap mommy's present so daddy can start dinner." Sadie looked up at him with a pout on her face. "I know you hate when play time with daddy ends, but we have things to do. Come on, let's clean up then you can help daddy cook dinner like you usually do."

Jon helped Sadie return the living room to its normal state before carrying her into the kitchen. "So what should we make, kiddo," Jon questioned, placing her down on the counter in front of him.

"Nuggs." Jon laughed at her pronunciation of 'nuggets'.

"You want chicken nuggets? I think we can handle that. What else should we make with them?" Jon had figured out quickly that if he let Sadie choose dinner and helped put it in the over on the nights that Mattie had to work her over-night shift she wouldn't fight him when it came to eating it.

"Fwench fwies," she exclaimed.

"French fries it is," he told her.

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While the oven preheated Jon cleaned up the crafting mess from earlier, with Sadie's help. "Alright, let's put dinner in the oven and then we'll wrap mommy's present while it cooks," Jon said, walking back over to the oven with Sadie. Opening the oven, Jon guided Sadie and helped her slide the cookie sheets with the nuggets and fries into the oven and closed the door.

"Wap now, daddy," Jon smiled.

"Okay, let's go wrap."

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Wrapping with a two-year-old was a much bigger challenge than Jon would have thought. It took four tries before he, with Sadie's help, of course, finally got it wrapped in a decent wrap job. Sticking the name tag on it, he slowly helped guide Sadie's hand and wrote 'Mommy' next to 'to' and 'Sadie' next to 'from'. "There we go. Mommy's present is all wrapped. Good job," Jon praised. "Now, let's go wash up before dinner."

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Jon got Sadie fed, bathed and into bed before he finally got a chance to relax. He put Mattie's present from Sadie back in the hiding spot from earlier with the bracelet he had bought and plopped down on the sofa. He was flipping through the channels on the TV when his phone rang. Grabbing it off the table he saw it was Mattie calling. Smiling he slid his finger across the screen to answer it. "We're fine," Jon answered, knowing she was calling to check in on them.

"That's good. So I guess that means the house is still standing then," she questioned. Jon rolled his eyes.

"Yes, the house is still standing, and Sadie is snuggled safely in her princess toddler bed." Mattie chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe for now, but she'll find her way into our bed before night's end." Jon laughed.

"I can't help that I make a good snuggle buddy. It's clearly what got you to give up on the separate rooms gig fairly quickly." It had only taken a month after their first time together for Mattie to finally cave and move into Jon's room with him. Mattie scoffed.

"Dream on, buddy. I moved into your room with you so quickly because your bed is more comfortable," Mattie claimed. It was the first good lie she could think of. Jon laughed again.

"Yeah right, if that helps you sleep better at night, keep telling yourself that. But we both know you're lying." Mattie laughed.

"I will keep telling myself that and sleeping like a baby every night. But anyway, I have to get back to work. I'll see you in the morning. I love you." Jon chuckled. "Love you, too. See you in the morning."

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Shortly after he hung up the phone with Mattie Jon locked up and shut down the house before going to bed. Walking into his bedroom, Jon laughed. There, in the middle of the bed, out cold, lay Sadie; Mattie, as usual, had hit the nail on the head.

Getting ready for bed, Jon shifted Sadie over to Mattie's side of the bed and crawled onto his side. Just as he got comfortable, Sadie rolled toward him and opened her eyes, staring up at him sleepily. He smiled at her. "Go back to sleep, baby girl." But instead of dozing back off immediately, she climbed on top of him and laid her little head back down on his chest, where she finally dozed back off. Since the first day she had slept on his chest during her nap, this had become somewhat of a routine. Jon chuckled quietly and placed a soft kiss on the side of her head before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep with his daughter snuggled into his chest.


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's Note: TONNNNS of fluff on this update!**

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**Chapter Three**

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It was Christmas Eve, and Jon found himself sitting in the living room along with Joe and Colby munching on chips and nursing a beer. Mattie had decided to invite Colby, Leighla, Joe, Jess and Gia over for a little get together. Nothing extravagant, it was just a small gathering with their close friends. The women were gathered in the kitchen; probably gossiping about whatever they thought was remotely interesting in the other party's lives; while the little ones were in Sadie's room playing with some of her many toys.

"So how'd the gift project with Sadie go," Joe questioned, popping a chip smothered in ranch dip into his mouth. Colby furrowed his brow, confusion displayed across his face.

"What gift project?" Joe chuckled.

"Jon helped Sadie make a gift for Mattie because he didn't know what to buy for her from Sadie." Joe popped a chip into his mouth before continuing. "I only know because he called me for help on what he should buy, and I told him to save money and have Sadie make something for her instead of buying something." Colby nodded in understanding and they both turned their attention to Jon, waiting for him to give insight to how the adventure went.

"It went well. Now I just hope Mattie likes it. Sadie seemed to think she would, but she's not quite two yet, so she's gonna think everyone is going to like something, no matter what it is." Jon shrugged. "I guess we'll get the official answer tomorrow. I'll be sure to let you guys know exactly how it went on Thursday when I see you," he told them, popping yet another chip smothered in dip into his mouth before he took a long swig from the bottle of alcohol resting in his right hand.

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Mattie sat in the kitchen with Jessie and Leighla. She couldn't help but notice how Jessie wasn't quite being herself. When she asked her what she wanted to drink, Jessie had requested water over alcohol, which was totally unlike her. On top of that she was being super quiet, and she appeared to be super nervous, as she kept glancing into the living room at Joe. Something was most definitely going on.

After Jessie glanced into the living room for the fifteenth time in the last ten minutes, Mattie had seen enough. "Okay Jessie, what the hell is going on," She finally questioned. Jessie shook her head.

"There's nothing going on, why?" Leighla laughed.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a terrible liar?" Jessie shrugged.

"Joe has, once or twice. But nothing is going on, I promise."

While she was vehemently denying there was anything going on, Mattie began to piece the proverbial puzzle together. Water over alcohol for someone like Jessie could only mean one of two things; at least in Mattie's mind. Either Jessie was sick, or she was pregnant again. Given she didn't look sick in any way shape or form, it had to be the latter of the two options. "Jessie…" Mattie paused, waiting for Jessie to turn her attention to her. "Are you…" Mattie paused once again and glanced out at Jon, Joe and Colby to make sure they wouldn't overhear her before she continued with her question. "Are you pregnant?"

The kitchen fell silent as Mattie's question hung in the air. Jessie's gaze dropped to her lap as she chewed on her bottom lip. That was all the confirmation Mattie and Leighla needed. They jumped up out of their chairs and pulled Jessie out of hers to wrap her into a giddy group hug. Jessie shushed them as she glanced back out toward the guys again. Mattie dropped the last piece of the proverbial puzzle into place. "You haven't told him yet, have you?" Jessie shook her head.

"I only had it officially confirmed by my doctor this morning. Gia does know because she was with me when the doctor confirmed it this morning. I came up with a cute little plan along with Gia's help to reveal it to him," Jessie confessed as she plopped back down into her chair. "I was going to wait until morning, but the more I wait, the more nervous I get, and I'm afraid I'm gonna chicken out. I mean, we've discussed having more kids, but we agreed we'd wait at least another year, maybe two, before we would try again," Jessie sighed, eyes looking everywhere but at the girls in front of her. "Clearly, God had other plans. Needless to say, I'm a little nervous about how he'll react."

Mattie sat back down in her chair. She could see where Jessie was coming from. If it was her, and she was trying to figure out how to tell Jon they were expecting, she was sure she'd be exactly the same way Jessie is right now. An idea popped into her head and she gave Jessie a reassuring smile. "Do you happen to have the things you need with you for the plan you had set up with Gia?" Jessie's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, it's all in the trunk of my car, why?" Mattie stole another glance at the guys before turning her attention back to Jessie and Leighla.

"Uh-oh, Mattie has some type of plan," Leighla chuckled.

"Indeed I do," Mattie smirked. "Reveal it to him while you're here tonight. Go forward with exactly what you were planning to do for the big reveal, except you'll have us here with you, this way you have the moral support you need, and you won't be able to chicken out."

Jessie contemplated Mattie's idea for a few moments before deciding it was her best bet. She was going to need all the moral support she could get to do this without chickening out. "That's actually a really good idea. Man, you'd think this was the first time I'm telling him I'm pregnant. Granted, it's been nearly six years since the last time I told him, but this nervous crap is ridiculous. We already have a child, why is this so hard?" Leighla glanced back at Joe then back at Jessie.

"Probably because despite the fact we all know he's a huge teddy bear, he tends to be really intimidating when he wants to be." Jessie laughed.

"But I shouldn't be intimidated by my own fiancé. I also don't think that's it. Yes, he has a tendency to be intimidating, but I've never really been intimidated by him before. Maybe it's just my hormones, I don't know. We'll just go with Mattie's idea and hope for the best. Let me go get the things I need, and of course Gia." The girls chuckled as Jessie stood up and left the kitchen to gather the things she would need to pull this off.

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While Jessie was off getting everything set up, Joe happened to glance in the kitchen and notice she was missing. At first he figured she'd just stopped their gossip session for a bathroom break, but when she had still failed to return after ten minutes he realized that couldn't be it. There's no way she was gone for that long in the bathroom. "Guys, I think my fiancée is up to something. She's been gone for nearly ten minutes; maybe longer. I didn't actually see her leave I just noticed she was missing ten minutes ago." Jon and Colby just shrugged.

"She'll be back, it's not like she left, or something. Relax dude," Colby threw out. "

Yeah, relax. You're acting super paranoid," Jon added. Deciding they were right, Joe went back to talking with them and trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the back of his mind that was telling him Jessie was up to something, and he wasn't so sure he was going to like whatever it was.

Jessie came back into the kitchen with what appeared to be a Christmas gift, Gia and Sadie close behind her. "Alright, you remember the plan right, baby girl," she asked Gia, who nodded in response.

"Yes, I remember mommy, but instead of me doing it by myself like I was going to in the morning, can Sadie help me open it means we're doing it tonight," Gia asked, referring to the similarly wrapped box she held in her small hands.

"Sure, if you want her to help you, and she wants to help you, she can."

Several minutes had passed when Mattie finally gave her a look. "Stop stalling girl. Everything will be fine. He loves you, he adores and loves Gia, no way will he be mad about this, and the quicker you do it, the quicker you get it over with." Jessie sucked in a deep breath before grabbing the box off the counter where she'd laid it. She froze in the door way, Gia and Sadie behind her once again. Rolling her eyes, Mattie reached out and nudged the back of her shoulder, forcing her into the living room.

Joe, Jon and Colby all caught movement out of the corner of their eye and turned to see what the girls were doing. They gave them odd looks when they walked into the room, Jessie and Gia holding presents in their hands. "Uhh, I thought we weren't doing a gift exchange, babe," Jon questioned. Mattie shook her head.

"You're right, we're not. We're helping Jessie and Gia with a present for Joe because Jessie needed support, that's all." Joe gave Mattie a confused look before turning his attention back to his future-wife and daughter.

"What's going on," he questioned nervously.

Not giving her time to panic or run, she thrust the wrapped gift toward him. "Open it." Joe was totally confused, but began ripping the paper off the package just as Gia and Sadie did the same to the box Gia held. Being a tad quicker than his daughter and her friend, Joe got his box unwrapped first and pulled the lid off. Reaching in he pulled out a tiny little plain white onsie that had blue and pink lettering on it that spelled out the phrase 'I'm the baby of the family' across the front of the clothing. Confusion masked his face as Gia held up a pink t-shirt, in her size, that read 'I'm the big sister' across the front of it.

"Look at my shirt, daddy," Gia said, excitement laced throughout her voice. Joe glanced from the onsie in his hands to the t-shirt his daughter was holding. He took a moment to read the front before glancing back at the onsie in his hands and reading that again. Joe stood up and slowly walked toward Jessie, little onsie still grasped in his big hands.

"Are you trying to tell me what I think you're trying to tell me," he questioned, as the confusion slowly gave way to realization.

"That depends on exactly what it is you think I'm trying to tell you," Jessie said, just above a whisper.

"Well, if you're trying to tell me we're expecting another baby then we're on the same page; if not, then you have to start explaining it too me because I missed the hint." Jessie couldn't help but laugh as tears began to brim her eyes. For fear her voice would crack if she tried to talk, she just nodded her head. Joe reached out and with the pad of his thumb brushed away the first tear that fell down her face before leaning in and kissing her. Pulling away he leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you, and I can't wait to meet this baby just like we did with Gia. Only this time, of course, Gia gets to meet him or her, too."

At the sound of her name Gia ran over to her parents. Pulling away from the embrace with Jessie, Joe leaned down and scooped his daughter up into his arms before re-wrapping his one arm back around Jessie's back. "You ready to be a big sister," he asked her, placing a kiss on her forehead. She giggled and nodded.

"Of course I am. I hope it's a girl, though. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a boy." The entire room filled with laughter at the five-year-olds honest admission.

"We'll have to wait and see," Jessie told her.

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After everyone congratulated them and there was more conversation about the baby and other random things the adults started cleaning up. It was close to nine o'clock when they decided it was time to call it a night and get the two girls to get to bed. The girls disagreed of course, until Mattie told them Santa wouldn't bring them and of their presents if they weren't sleeping. That of course had Gia running for the door much quicker than she had opened the 'big sister' t-shirt earlier. Joe and Jessie laughed as they followed their daughter to the door, thanking Mattie and Jon for having them over. Colby and Leighla said their goodbyes and headed out right behind them.

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Once everyone was gone, Mattie and Jon tucked Sadie into her bed and headed to bed as well. They knew they'd need as much sleep as they could get because the next day was going to be rough. It would be the first year Sadie semi-grasped the concept of Santa and presents, which meant she'd be up super early to open her presents because she was excited. So the quicker they got to sleep, the better off they would be in the morning.

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**Author's Note: ****I had initially thought of doing the idea used in this chapter with Jon, Mattie, and Sadie, but they've only been together for 4 months at this point in the story; and that's entirely too quick for my liking, so I used Joe, Jessie and Gia instead. :)**


	4. Chapter Four

**Author's Note: Here is the final chapter for this little story. I will have the original story's(Unknown Secrets from his past) Epilogue up tomorrow afternoon, so keep a lookout for that.**

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**Chapter Four**

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Jon and Mattie were rudely awoken at five am by an overexcited toddler. "Mommy, daddy, get up, Santa was here!" Jon groaned as his daughter launched herself on top of him. Mattie sat up and laughed. Sadie was leaning toward Jon's face, with her nose right up against his. "Get up, daddy!"

"How's daddy supposed to get up if you don't give him any room to do so? You have to back up a little bit," Mattie said, pulling Sadie off of Jon. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jon sat up.

"What time is it?" Mattie laughed.

"Only five o'clock." Jon groaned.

"Seriously, Sadie," he questioned. "You couldn't have waited another hour or so?" Sadie giggled.

"No daddy, Santa came. Gotta open pwesents," she exclaimed, climbing off Mattie's lap and running toward the stairs.

"Satyana Kaelyn Good, what have I told you about running," Jon shouted, freezing her in her tracks.

"Sowwy daddy," she said. A pout was evident on her little face, and tears were clear in her blue eyes that matched her father's perfectly. Mattie stayed silent as Jon scolded their daughter. As much as she hated seeing Sadie about to cry after being yelled at, Jon was only doing it because she was wrong and he wanted her to know that.

"No, don't start crying. I've told you before why you shouldn't run. Do you want to get hurt, especially on Christmas?" She shook her head no. "Then you need to listen when we tell you not to do something. We're not telling you your fun away, we're telling you so you won't get hurt. Understand?"

"Yes, daddy, I sowwy."

"As long as you promise not to do it again I'll forgive you."

"I pwomise."

"Good, now come here and give me a hug, then we'll go down and open presents." Remembering what he'd just yelled at her for, Sadie slowly walked back over to him and climbed up onto the bed throwing his arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and completed the hug before releasing her. "Alright, go wait at the top of the steps and let mommy and I get dressed real fast then we'll go see what Santa brought you," Jon said, tossing the covers back off of him.

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Jon and Mattie threw on some sweats and Mattie pulled her hair back into a low ponytail so it was out of her face before they were ready to walk downstairs. They left their bedroom to see their daughter standing at the top of the stairs waiting for them. "Daddy, cawwy me, pwease," Sadie asked, holding her arms up to him. Mattie chuckled as Jon obliged and picked his daughter up carrying her downstairs. Sadie's eyes just about bulged out of her head when she saw the presents sitting beneath the tree. She squirmed around in Jon's arms causing him to laugh.

"Easy Sadie, I don't wanna drop you."

"PWESENTS," she exclaimed pointing at the tree.

"I see that," he nodded, placing her down on her feet. "Go ahead, sit over there and I'll start handing you each one." Mattie made sure the tree was lit up before she pulled her camera out of its bag and her phone out of her pocket. In one hand she would hold her camera, for photo taking; in the other she would have her iPhone, camera app open and video setting set to go. She wasn't going to miss a second of this, not when it was Jon's first Christmas watching Sadie open her presents; especially because she kind of understood what was going on this year. She was going to be sure she had every photo and video she could get to show Sadie later on in life.

Sadie sat down in front of the tree and Jon began looking at packages. "Okay, this one says To Sadie, from Santa." Sadie took it and wasted no time ripping into the paper. Gasping she held up a brand new American Girl Doll. She was still a little too young to really understand what the dolls were about, but she wanted one because she had overheard Gia telling Joe and Jessie that she wanted one, so Jon and Mattie caved and bought her one; only she, of course, thought it was from Santa.

"Wow! That's cool. We'll have to put that with the rest of your dolls later," Matte said snapping a photo of her holding it up.

"Alright, here's the next one. This one is from mommy and I," Jon said pushing another of her many presents toward her. This one was one of the bigger ones, but once again Sadie wasted little time getting the wrapping paper off of it. This time behind the paper was a Disney Princess Cinderella's Castle toy. The little girl loved the Disney Princesses, but her favorite by far had become Cinderella. Another gasp escaped her.

"Cindawella!" Mattie laughed at her pronunciation of the princess's name.

"That's not Cinderella, it's her castle," Jon chuckled.

"But she wives hewe!" Jon laughed.

"Yes, that she does. Alright, let's see what else you have here," Jon said, continuing to pass her another present.

By the time Sadie had finished opening all her presents, she had a ton of baby dolls and a bunch of Disney Princess toys. Jon was sure he'd seen enough Disney Princess and baby doll things to last him a life time, but he knew he wouldn't change it for the world. Just watching the shear excitement on his daughter's face every time she ripped open a new item was good enough to withstand the mountain of toys he was now surrounded by.

"Alright, you opened all yours. Now it's mommy's turn," Jon told her as he reached under the tree and pulled out the box containing the bracelet he'd bought her. He couldn't wait to see her face when she opened it. "Here, this one is from me," he told her, handing it to her.

Mattie set down her camera and her phone and took the wrapped gift out of Jon's hands and began to open it. Jon wasn't letting this go unfilmed, so he grabbed Mattie's camera and phone and set them up. Seeing the little blue box that was synonymous with Tiffany's made her eyes grow wide. Jon hit play and started snapping some photos. "Oh Jon, you didn't." She wasn't sure what it was yet, she hadn't had the guts to open the box, but she knew whatever it was, was super expensive.

"Yes I did, and I don't wanna hear it. Open the box, Mads." She wanted to argue, but he left her no room. Popping open the box her mouth dropped open at the sight of the beautiful bracelet inside.

"Oh gosh, Jon, it's beautiful. I don't know what to say…," Mattie trailed off. She loved it, but its price tag still concerned her. She wasn't the type for expensive things like this, and Jon knew it. Jon snapped a few more photos and made sure the video was just long enough before he stopped it and placed the devices back down in front of Mattie.

"I know you dislike expensive things, but we've been together four months now and I haven't bought you anything more than dinner and a movie." He shook his head. "In my eyes, that's not nearly enough for everything you've done. You've taken care of my daughter since birth when you didn't have to, and you gave me a chance when you were afraid I'd break your heart. You didn't have to do either of those. You could've told Kaelyn no, and had Sadie end up in foster care, and I would likely still not know she existed, but you didn't. You took her in, and when it came down to it, you made sure I knew about her. Maybe not in the way I would have liked, or the way you'd have liked, but you were honest when it came down to it," Jon said grabbing her hand and pulling her closer to him. "You could've told me to go fuck myself and left me when I told you I wanted more to our relationship, but you didn't. Yes, you took time to think about it, and it took a drastic experience to open your eyes, but even after that you could've pushed me away, but you didn't. You gave me a chance, and I couldn't think of a better thank you/Christmas gift than a bracelet I knew you'd love," Jon explained, taking the piece of jewelry out of his girlfriend's hand and fastening it around her wrist. "So, don't think of it as me spoiling you, just think of it as me saying 'thank you' for everything you've done for me thus far."

Mattie felt the tears brim her eyes as she looked at the jewelry on her wrists. She couldn't find her voice, so she didn't even try. Instead, she walked over to him and placed a kiss on his lips. Pulling away, she rested her forehead against his. "Thank you. You shouldn't have, but thank you." Jon laughed.

"Too bad, I wanted to. But you're welcome," he said, placing another kiss on her lips.

"Alright, Sadie," Jon said looking over at the toddler who had sat quietly throughout that entire emotional encounter, just playing with the boxes some of her presents came in. "Here, hand this to mommy," Jon handed her the wrapped gift they'd made together for her. Taking it from her father, Sadie handed it over to Mattie.

"Merry Christmas, mommy," she said as Mattie took it from her.

"Thank you, baby girl." Mattie ripped the paper off of it. She was a bit confused at first, but she smiled when it finally clicked and she realized what it was.

"Clever, Jon, very clever." He shrugged.

"Hey, you always say you wear all your jewelry, but you have no room left in your current box, so here ya go. Thanks to Sadie, you now have two, and plenty of jewelry room," he told her. She popped the latches to see just how much room she had. "This one is also pretty, right Sadie?" The toddler nodded her head at her father's question.

"Well, the compartments are pretty deep, and yes, you're right it's very pretty. I can put my rings in one and my bracelets in the other, and keep all my necklaces in the other one, so they don't get all tangled up," Mattie said, planning out the perfect way to separate her jewelry. "Thank you, Sadie. You and daddy did a great job. I love it," Mattie said, hugging her daughter.

"You welcome, mommy." Sadie walked back over to the tree and grabbed a still wrapped gift. "Hewe go, daddy," she said handing it to him. Furrowing his brow, he looked at the tag and saw his name in the 'to' area and Sadie's in the 'from' slot. Taking it from her, he ripped the paper off of it and smiled when he saw his daughter's hand prints in concrete plaque form and "Satyana Kaelyn, December 2013" centered below the hand prints.

"This is awesome, thank you," he said giving her a kiss on her forehead.

"You welcome. Mommy can I hand him da ovr one too?" Mattie smiled and nodded.

"Sure, go ahead." Grabbing the last wrapped gift below the tree Sadie handed it to her father. Looking at the tag he saw this one was from Mattie. Pulling it closer to his head he shook it gently. Mattie glared at him. "Hey, don't do that!" Jon shrugged.

"And why shouldn't I?"

"For one, that's cheating! And two, there could actually be something fragile in there." Jon laughed.

"Okay, I'm sorry. If it helps, I didn't hear anything shaking, so I still have no idea what it is," Jon said, starting to rip the paper off of the present. Under the paper was a plain cardboard box. Frowning, Jon pulled the sides on the box, finally popping it open. Inside the box lay three photo albums and three homemade DVD's. Jon couldn't hide his confusion as he looked up at Mattie.

Mattie had planned to give this to Jon three weeks ago for his birthday, but she hadn't quite completed the editing process on it at that point, so the idea ended up becoming his Christmas gift when she finally completed it last week. "The first two DVD's and albums are of Sadie's first seventeen months; the last DVD and album are of all three of us together in the time since then. I did quite a bit of editing and what not to try to make it perfect. Hopefully I did a good enough job."

Jon opened the first album and saw a photo of Mattie holding Sadie in the hospital the day she was born. Slowly flipping to the next photo he saw a photo of Sadie in her car seat, a pacifier in her mouth a blanket covering her lap, the day she was leaving the hospital. He wasn't usually an emotional person, but these photos were bringing tears to his eyes. Without flipping any further he placed the book back in the box and leaned in placing another kiss on Mattie's lips as Sadie giggled quietly in the background. Breaking the kiss he reached out and pulled his daughter over to him. "What's so funny, missy," he asked, tickling her ribs with the free hand he didn't have wrapped around Mattie, securing her on his lap so she wouldn't fall. His daughter laughed uncontrollably as he continued to tickle her.

"Daddy, stop… stop," Sadie cried between giggles.

* * *

The rest of the day went perfectly. They spent it with Sadie playing with her toys and Mattie and Jon watching the DVD's pertaining to the events of their daughter's life. They'd even managed to squeeze in a quick nap at one point. Jon wasn't sure what he had been so worried about before. This had turned out to be the best Christmas he'd ever experienced. There's no way he could have asked for a more perfect Christmas for their first one as a family.


End file.
